WTB: Atari POKEY's
- Thread starter gamefixer
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creepykenny
Well-known member
this explains why in my box of iffy/possibly duff pokeys some seem to work on certain boards and then same ones are totally DOA on others ... none of them seem completely dead all of the time just half dead most of the time
zombie pokey
zombie pokey
Hiscoresaves.com has some Pokeys in stock as well, last I checked.
Wow, they are BACK in stock. $32.50
I would have thought he'd reserve stock for including with other kits.
But then again, rumor has it that he has 1000's of them. LOL
https://www.highscoresaves.com/pokey-c012294.html
fcawth
Well-known member
Pokey
Actually if I was just testing pokeys I would have stuck with yours.
The cat box thing was more of a help for fixing boards. Since I had it already and because I needed a testbed for the FPGA pokey I set it up for pokeys (I'm not the main developer of the single pokey, just helping him out). For example I can do an "A-B" test on Tempest's dual pokeys and have a real one in one socket and FPGA one in another, and have it switch back and forth between them by alternating the volume to zero with the same exact register settings otherwise. I also hacked a space-duel board (normally one channel has a low-pass filter) to do the same thing for that type of audio output circuit. That's how we are making sure that the FPGA pokey sounds exactly like the real one because you can hear subtle differences this way you could never hear by just putting it in a game and playing it. We can also match the volume levels exactly since we can compare the outputs on an oscilloscope way beyond the point where you would hear the difference.
But for just verifying the pokeys it was definitely easier and just as effective to do it on the atari with your test cart.
Actually if I was just testing pokeys I would have stuck with yours.
The cat box thing was more of a help for fixing boards. Since I had it already and because I needed a testbed for the FPGA pokey I set it up for pokeys (I'm not the main developer of the single pokey, just helping him out). For example I can do an "A-B" test on Tempest's dual pokeys and have a real one in one socket and FPGA one in another, and have it switch back and forth between them by alternating the volume to zero with the same exact register settings otherwise. I also hacked a space-duel board (normally one channel has a low-pass filter) to do the same thing for that type of audio output circuit. That's how we are making sure that the FPGA pokey sounds exactly like the real one because you can hear subtle differences this way you could never hear by just putting it in a game and playing it. We can also match the volume levels exactly since we can compare the outputs on an oscilloscope way beyond the point where you would hear the difference.
But for just verifying the pokeys it was definitely easier and just as effective to do it on the atari with your test cart.
Shupac
Active member
It's true, Fred and I are very close to finalizing the code and hardware for the single-core FPGA Pokey. This project turned out to be a lot more difficult than the QPokey, for several reasons, but our latest prototype works perfectly on Tempest and Centipede and we have high confidence that it will work equally well in the others.
I have been hesitant to talk publicly about this project for fear that there might be some show-stopper that would prevent it from becoming a real thing. But at this point, I believe the only problem left to solve is how to get a bunch of these boards manufactured while staying within the cost constraints.
Attachments
I wonder if four repro "single POKEYs" in a POKEY-ELIMINATOR board will work better than a repro "quad POKEY" ... in all applications.
Congratulations - many have tried, and the fact that none are offered for sale is a testimony to the challenge. We really need a universal (works in all games) and economical solution (in relative terms). You will have a lot of folks lined up to buy these assuming they do reliably work. Maybe crowdfund this development? Might be best to have field testers for all of the game boards that use these before you commit to production. I have experienced NOS POKEYs being bad straight out of the tube depending upon who made them and just about every board I get now to repair is either missing a or has a bad pokey (they seem to go bad in boards that have sat for a long time, again it varies by the manufacturer of the Pokey). I bought several cases of Ballblazer carts BITD and thought I would have all of the POKEYs that I ever needed with more to spare. I was wrong and after many years am beginning to run low.
fcawth
Well-known member
Thanks It has been a big challenge to come up with something that works in multiple games and can be used alongside an Atari pokey in the multi-pokey games. Keeping the cost down while meeting the design objectives is definitely a huge challenge (and Shupac has done a great job with this!).
As far as testing in multiple games, I have a Braze Asteroids Multigame to test asteroids deluxe, Shupac and I both have Tempest and Centipede, and I also have Millipede, Battlezone, Star Wars with ESB kit, and Missile Command, as well as a working space duel board I can run on the bench.
We have local access to a black widow and a few others as well.
So we have a pretty good cross-section of games that we are already testing this thing on which is one of the reasons we have been able to discover some game-specific issues that we have addressed. We're planning to provide recordings of the actual games so everyone can compare the sound from our pokey and the Atari pokey before buying them - we are working very hard to make it so you can't tell the difference.
Thanks
Fred
It would be interesting to see how the new Pokey behaves in Purity's Atari 7800 Pokey tester mentioned earlier in this thread.
